Circle of Life

We had an interesting weekend...well, interesting in the diversity of it.

On Saturday morning, we went to a funeral for a friend of ours, whose mother had passed away earlier in the week. It was a beautiful memorial service.

Afterward, there was an informal reception and Dana was asked if she could watch our friend's son as he needed his afternoon nap. Without hesitation, Dana said yes.

I'm going to digress in this story as I have to give mad props to my bride. One thing to know about Dana is when a friend needs something...I mean, really needs something, she will go to the moon and back for them. I've learned a lot about how to be a friend from watching her. If you're lucky enough that she counts you as a friend, you've got an advocate in your corner, no matter the situation.

Back to my story...

That evening, we spent a few hours with my mother-in-law. She was watching Lauren for us while we were at the funeral, and Lauren always has fun when she's with her grandmother. She even had a cousin, Gabriel, to play with, so it was a fun evening with three generations playing together.

On Sunday, Dana was invited to a baby shower for our friend from church. She is due to give birth to a baby boy in a few weeks, so the showering was on. Luckily for me, this was a gals only party, so I was good with that.

Finally, later Sunday afternoon, we went to a wedding for a friend of ours from my work. He had a beautiful ceremony in one of the chapels at the Mission Inn in Riverside. We didn't party late into the night with the rest of his guests, as we knew we had to go to work the next day, and it was already a long weekend.

On the drive home, Dana said to me, "Wow, what a weekend. It was the full circle of life, ya know." And I couldn't agree with her more.

Friends and family...death and life...new and old...

The most amazing part of the weekend was how God was honored in each of these activities.

We thank Him for our friends.
We praise Him for our family.
We revere Him for his perfect timing in life and death.
We worship Him with our lives as we celebrate a life well-lived, the love of family, a mom waiting to give birth, and the beginnings of a new marriage.

God is good.